UK gets finance and business services boost

Chris Papadopoullos was City A.M.'s economics reporter until February 2016.

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Chris Papadopoullos

THE UK economy grew by three per cent in the year to September with a bumper contribution from the business services and finance sector.

The figures come from the second estimate of GDP released by the Office for National Statistics yesterday.

The set of data shows the service sector grew by 3.4 per cent over that time with 1.8 percentage points – over half the growth – coming from the business services and finance sector. Total growth in the business services and financial sector was 4.6 per cent year-on-year in September.

Services make up 78 per cent of the UK’s total economic output.

However, one figure worried economists: business investment fell by 0.7 per cent in the three months to September compared with the three months to June. Business investment has been a strong source of growth over the past year.

“This was at odds with the strength of surveys of investment intentions, so it may simply be volatility. But it is an area that needs to be monitored, given that up to this point it has been a key driver of strong growth,” said economist Dominic Bryant from investment bank BNP Paribas.